Silence In A Hearing World
by Anime Girl23
Summary: As their daughter got older, Finn knew the question would be raised eventually. Why can't Daddy hear? Puck's world turned silent years ago and even though life for them had become normal, sometimes, Finn forgot that it wasn't the norm for everyone else. Finn/Puck slash


Look at me being a little fic machine lately! Inspired by a discussion I had with a friend where she was saying how she wanted a deaf!Puck fic that wasn't drowning in angst. There's still a tiny bit, but not anywhere near my usual levels. The lack of hard angst I've been writing lately actually scares me a bit...

As always, reviews are love. Even if it's something short. I haven't posted anything for this couple in a while.

Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me.

Silence In A Hearing World  
One-shot

Some days, Finn still wasn't sure how this had become his life. Married to his best friend. Their daughter running around the house, pigtails flying. Him floating around whatever schools needed an interpreter.

Never in his life had he ever thought that he'd go into something like this. Translating stuff into another language for people in real-time? Doing that, you had to know the language as well as you knew English. Had to be able to give the information out in the language people needed as you _listened_ to the person speaking. It was a constant game of catch-up and, really, Finn kind of loved it.

"Papa?"

Finn looked down from the paper when he heard Jenny. "Yeah?" She looked a little nervous as she stood there, her pigtails swinging with her and fingers in her mouth as she chewed on her nails. He picked up the four-year-old, dropping her in his lap as he pulled her hand away. "No biting," he reminded her. "What's up, sweets?"

"Why can't Daddy hear?"

Right. That. He had known that question was going to come eventually, especially now as she got older. She was meeting more kids and even though they'd adopted her when she was a baby, they'd never quite explained to her just what it meant that Puck was deaf. She'd always just accepted that they talked to Daddy with their hands. Now, though, she'd be realizing that not all families did that.

"Daddy got hurt a long time ago," he explained softly. "He got a big boo-boo in his head."

"His hearing went away?"

Finn nodded.

"Can we find it?"

"No, hun," he said, shaking his head. "We can't."

For a minute, Jenny looked distressed. Not quite the way she looked every time she lost her favorite doll, but close. Dolls were dolls. Daddy was Daddy. "Does he miss it?"

"Sometimes. Your daddy… He loved music and it made him sad that he couldn't hear it anymore. He was sad for a while, but he got used to it. He started feeling the vibrations instead."

"Vi-what?"

"You know how the speakers shake a little when you turn your music up?" he asked, waiting until she nodded. "Those are vibrations." He took her little hand and put it on his neck. "Just like when we talk."

Jenny nodded, looking awed. "Keep going!" She pressed her hand to the front of his neck a little harder and he chuckled, more amused than indulging. She looked excited and he was pretty sure he actually _saw_ the light bulb go off in her head before she slid off his lap. "I'm gonna go turn the music up really loud so he can feel it all over!"

She ran off before he could remind her about the neighbors and he shook his head, smiling fondly. Looked up when he felt a tap on his shoulder and mouthed a _hey, babe_ to his husband.

"What's she doing?" Puck signed, looking confused.

"She was asking about you," he signed back, mouthing the words rather than actually saying them aloud. "She's turning the music on so you can feel the vibrations."

Puck shook his head, amused, and grabbed Finn's hand. "Come on." He pulled him towards the living room, only letting go of his hand when Jenny came running over, her own hands flying with her explanation. He nodded and lifted her up, taking her back towards the stereo so he could turn the volume down to something that wouldn't get the cops knocking on their door. He put her hand up on a speaker instead. "Close your eyes and feel it," he signed to her before she clamped them shut.

Finn watched them from the doorway, laughing softly when Jenny started signing with her eyes closed, going on about how cool that was and she could actually _feel _music like some kind of superhero. Maybe she forgot that Puck needed her eyes open for her to see his response, so Puck kissed her head instead and they sat there.

For a second, it made him think back to the old days when him and Puck would turn the music on as high as they could and rock out. He hadn't heard Puck sing since Thanksgiving ten years ago and… It was sad. He still had recordings from their performances, but it was never quite the same. He didn't get to hear Puck's voice much at all these days. He could still speak. There was nothing wrong with his voice. It was his own insecurities kept him from doing it. The fact that he couldn't hear his voice and that it had been so long since he had…

He'd told Puck a thousand times that he didn't sound too different, but Puck still stayed relatively silent, choosing to speak solely through sign language most of the time.

He never even would have gotten into interpreting if it hadn't been for Puck. Two years after graduation and he'd given up on his plan for a teaching degree because his head just wasn't as in it as he thought it was. Another impromptu road trip and another stupid quest to find himself and figure out what he wanted to do.

He'd run into Puck in LA, happy because he hadn't seen his friend since the guy had decided to give the place one more shot. They'd lost touch as things in their lives got insane and he fell right into rambling, speaking at a mile a minute until Puck bopped him on the side of the head to shut him up, gestured at his ear, and mouthed _I can't hear you_.

In the end, they caught up with their laptops in front of them, sharing their messages as Puck explained the car accident and the brain damage it had left. He was fine except for the hearing and, yeah, he really was fine, so stop giving him that worried look.

_ At least I don't have to listen to the stupid assholes anymore._

Puck had slid his laptop over to show him the comment, smiling softly when it made him laugh.

Finn admired him, honestly. Had it been him in Puck's shoes, he would have spent years depressed over it. Puck, though, he accepted it. He'd explained that he'd spent months hiding and trying to make a noise loud enough that he could hear it, but that he'd hit a point eventually where he couldn't deny it anymore. Then, he just had to deal with it.

He was fine now. He'd accepted everything and things had become so routine at this point that Finn forgot some days that Puck was deaf at all. The sign language had become such a natural part of their lives that he didn't think about it much anymore. It wasn't part of their relationship, at least. It wasn't part of their family. They'd raised Jenny with it being completely normal because it _was_. Some people hear. Some don't. It was as simple as that.

Learning ASL so he could communicate with Puck had been an easy decision and when his teachers at the community college said he was a natural… That was that. He found linguistics pretty easily when he transferred to a state school and it clicked.

His mom cried when he graduated with honors.

"Papa!" Jenny called. "Come feel! It's so cool!"

He smiled as he headed over, kissing Puck softly before he sat down. Let Jenny press his hand to the speaker.

"We can feel music like Daddy does!" She scrambled to her feet. "I'm gonna get another CD! I wanna see if it works with everything!"

"We're gonna be here a while," he signed to Puck as Jenny ran out.

"Your fault."

"Yeah, yeah. Kiss me before she comes back."

The End

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